Chelmsford 123: The Complete Series 1 And 2 [DVD]

Wahey! At last, after many years of waiting this little gem has finally been released on DVD!Written by and starring Jimmy Mulville and Rory McGrath, the series is set in Roman occupied Britain in the year 123. Sent to be the governor of Britain as a punishment by the Emperor Hadrian, Aulus Paulinus (Mulville) finds himself struggling to adapt to life in the uncivilised and rather muddy province. Badvoc (McGrath) is the uncivilised leader of the local tribe, who has no time for the trappings of civilisation and just wants to be left alone to get on with his uncomplicated life of loot and pillage. He is a schemer, and along with his lieutenants Mungo and Blag enjoys making a few denarii out of the Romans while sticking two fingers at them.A decent mixture of the erudite and stupid (the first episode is conducted largely in Latin, with some hilarious subtitles) and with quite a lot of attention paid to historical detail, these are well constructed with lots of clever one liners and situations. The characters are a little one dimensional, but it works so well you don't really notice.Added to which is the roster of actors appearing here, many of them would go on to greater things, and it is packed with faces still familiar today. Neil Pearson (Drop the Dead Donkey, Between the Lines), Andy Hamilton (Drop the Dead Donkey, Old Harry's Game), Philip Pope (Old Harry's Game), Geoffrey Whitehead (Z Cars), Geoffrrey McGivern (Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Lab Rats) Mark Wing-Davey (Hitch Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy) and Chris Langham (The Thick of It) all make appearances. The wealth of good actors here ensures that this is a superior comedy, easily up there with, if not better then, Blackadder, it's main rival at the time.This set contains all 13 episodes, 6 from series 1, 7 from series 2. In all a highly recommended buy! 5 stars.

I have been waiting for the DVD release of Chelmsford 123 for years now and finally it is here. This truly is one of the most underated british comedy shows of all time, each of the characters have great lines, some are a little bit obvious but they are delivered brilliantly all the same.If you only ever get to watch one episode, make it "One For The Road" which is about my neck of the woods, Romford, the very last line is a classic and has me in fits each time I watch it. But in all honesty every episode is excellent, well written and performed with the odd surprise, like the Tardis from Doctor Who making a brief appearence and then there are Blags' flash forwards of future events, Mungos' name changes as well as slimy Grasientus (played by Philip Pope, better know for his performance in Only Fools And Horses as Tony Angellino, the one who sang with Rachel but cannot pronounce his R's correctly). Rory McGrath plays one of the lead roles as Badvoc, the local tribal leader and he is surprisingly good (and slim) and Jimmy Mulville as Aulus the Roman governor is brilliant.YOU MUST BUY AND WATCH!!!

Having failed to flatter the Emperor sufficiently, Aulus Paulinus (Jimmy Mulville) is rewarded with the worst job imaginable - Governor of Britain. Here he is faced by terrible weather, awful food and worst of all, the native Celts under the leadership of Badvoc (Rory McGrath).Issued on DVD after more than twenty years, this is simply one of the best comedies from the late 80's. Intelligently written, funny and memorable, few other comedies would have taken the risk of filming its first episode in Latin with subtitles. Sadly, Chelmsford only ran for two series but it's better to leave people wanting more than to risk outlasting its creative peak.This two disc set contains both series, amounting to thirteen episodes but has no extras apart from a photo gallery. Nevertheless, it's a long anticipated and worthwhile addition to any collection of great British comedy.

I've waited for nearly 20 years for "Chelmsford 123" to become available for me to watch at home. I'd remembered it as an absolutely hilarious programme, with Rory McGrath and Jimmy Mulville on top form. And, watching it for the first time in two decades, I wasn't disappointed. Having said that, it's not perfect (hence the meagre 4 stars). The first series is somewhat patchy in quality, as the regular characters find their feet. The laughs are there, but the quality of the jokes is variable. Of course, the series is almost worth watching purely for Neil Pearson's "They call me Mungo..." lines. The second series, however, is fantastic. The 2-year gap between series allowed time for changes in cast and style, and the improvement is very noticeable. The timing is superb, and I had to pause the DVD on more than one occasion as I was laughing hysterically. It's a shame that no more episodes were produced, as the second series was fabulous entertainment. Marvellous stuff!

Still funny in places but not as sharp as I remember it being at the time but still glad I bought it. Perhaps my tastes have changed. The other thing perhaps worthy of comment is how young so many of the now well known faces look!

Way back in the mists of time there existed a fledgling Channel 4 and one of its first comedy series was Chelmsford 123. I loved it, a refreshing change from the same old stodge of ITV and the Beeb. However, when it was over it was never shown again (in this age of repeats ad infinitum, almost inconcievable) and I was more than a little peeved. Finally it has been released on DVD and I hope a whole new generation can appreciate this comedy gem.It must be the only comedy series to have half an episode in Latin, but with the brilliant subtitles it works superbly. If only learning latin had been like this at school!All the characters are wonderful, but for me Jimmy Mulville's long suffering Aulus Paulinus, the new govenor of Britannia, is inspired.Highly recommend this, especially at the brilliant price on Amazon.co.uk.